Kidnapped on Friday at dawn, in his chalet in Batroun, by a commando of the Israeli naval forces, Imad Fadel Amhaz, would not be a member of Hezbollah, but would have links with the pro-Iranian formation, on whose behalf he transported weapons by sea from Syria to Lebanon.
Information which of course remains to be confirmed, since the investigation carried out by the Lebanese army, after the kidnapping, remains ongoing.
The Israeli army confirmed to the American news site, Axios, that it had carried out this operation, specifying that it was a unit of Shayetet 13 which captured Amhaz, whom it presented as being a “member of the naval force of the Hezbollah”.
The young man, in his thirties, was training at the Institute of Maritime Sciences and Technology (Marsati). According to Axios, the Israeli army said it wanted to “question him about the maritime activities” of the pro-Iranian group.
On the official website of the Israeli army, Shayetet 13 is presented as “a navy commando unit, acting at sea, on land and in the air as part of special and dangerous operations. The unit engages in various operational activities, including inflicting strategic damage to enemy maritime infrastructure, as well as gathering high-quality intelligence on enemy operations.
The kidnapping took place at 4 a.m., during the night from Friday to Saturday, but it was not until Saturday morning that the information leaked, while complete mystery surrounded the entire operation. At the start of the afternoon, very little information was still available. It was only in the early evening that scraps of additional information were reported by pan-Arab and American media.
“A naval commando kidnapped a civilian, an investigation is underway into the circumstances of the kidnapping,” a Lebanese military source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP. “We are also investigating to see if it is an Israeli (force),” she said.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a judicial official said the operation was “90%” the work of an “Israeli commando”.
The members of the commando, around twenty, arrived aboard speedboats around 4 a.m. on the night of Thursday to Friday, said the National Information Agency (ANI-official). They headed towards a chalet in a building by the sea and kidnapped an individual, before leaving, continued ANI, which cited residents of Batroun, without disclosing the identity of the kidnapped man.
A source close to the case in Batroun assured AFP that the kidnapped man was training at the Institute of Maritime Sciences and Technology (Marsati) and was around thirty years old. He resided in accommodation at the Institute, at the northern entrance to Batroun.
According to information relayed on social networks and taken up by Lebanese and pan-Arab media, a unit made up of nearly 25 soldiers would have landed in this coastal town in North Lebanon to kidnap Amhaz.
Questioned on the question, the outgoing Minister of Transport, Ali Hamiyé, neither denied nor confirmed this information in the morning, while a video was circulating on social networks, showing soldiers dragging a civilian with them, in a place not specified. “We are waiting for confirmation from the army and security services,” he said.
Hezbollah has not commented on this either. Citing sources from this formation, Al-Hadath indicates that Hezb does not have a cadre named Imad Fadel Amhaz.
Israeli media also picked up the information, citing al-Hadath. Only Yediot Aharonot cited Israeli military sources. The Israeli army has also not confirmed the operation. Contacted by the AFP office in Jerusalem, the Israeli army said it was “verifying” this information.
Furthermore, UNIFIL was to publish a statement in the afternoon to deny information reported by media close to Hezbollah, according to which the German Navy, off the Lebanese coast, had helped the Israeli commando. “UNIFIL was at no time involved in a case of kidnapping or any other attack on the Lebanese violation,” said Candice Ardelle, deputy spokesperson for the multinational force. She denounced “rumors and misleading and unfounded information which endanger peacekeeping forces”.
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